NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The Niagara Falls Police Department is now the lead agency investigating the deadly crash at the Rainbow Bridge on Wednesday morning.
NFPD Chief John Faso says that the investigation will take substantial time.
"This is not something that's going to happen overnight," Chief Faso said. "It's a monumental task."
Faso said that the department is using 3D scanners to create a digital crash scene so investigators can use to determine the cause.
"They take it to the scene, it scans the scene and reproduces a 3D image for them to work on of the of the entire scene," Faso said.
One piece of evidence that will be critical for the investigation, according to automotive analyst Lauren Fix, is the Event Data Recorder from the 2022 Bentley Flying Spur. The Event Data Recorder is essentially a 'black box' for a vehicle.
"Every vehicle it collects your data, that data is shared with the manufacturers," Fix said.
Similar to an aircraft's black box, the EDR in a vehicle maintains a significant amount of information about how it was driven.
"It knows steering input, because we have steer by wire, it has accelerator information," Fix said. "It would tell you if the pedal was put to the floor."
Fix believes that any acceleration data recovered from the Event Data Recorder would help investigators narrow determining factors of the crash.
"They could actually see that the driver applied the accelerator pedal, not unintentionally, then it could have been [possibly] a medical issue," Fix said. "They're going to have to make a decision based on the knowledge that they have."
2 On Your Side reached out to Chief Faso to specifically ask if the Event Data Recorder had been recovered, after we initially interviewed him. At this time, we are still waiting for a response.
Faso did say that the medical examiner is still conducting their investigation, as his team continues theirs.
"Every angle, everything will be considered and investigated thoroughly," Faso said.
There are no recalls related to unintentional acceleration for the 2022 Bentley Flying Spur, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Some 400 Flying Spurs built between 2018 and 2021 were recalled in Australia last year "due to inconsistent fitment of the fuse box and the electrical harness the A-post lower trim can protrude into the cabin reducing clearance to the accelerator pedal."
The impact of that problem for drivers could lead to the vehicle to "continue to accelerate, even when the driver's foot is removed from the accelerator pedal" according to the Australian Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.
A spokesperson for Bentley did not return a call or email from 2 On Your Side on Friday night.